Identifying and using identities deemed to be known to a user

Abstract

The people a user is presumed to know or be associated with may be determined using a number of techniques. This information about people that the user knows is used in relation to the user's communications. For example access to a user's online presence may be restricted based on the known people such that access to presence is provided only to those people that the user knows.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of providing online presence information:
 maintaining a list of people known to a user;   accessing online presence information for the user;   determining a potential receiver of the online presence information;   comparing the potential receiver to the maintained list to determine if the potential receiver is included on the list; and   determining whether to communicate the online presence information to the potential receiver based on whether the potential receiver is included in the list.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  wherein determining whether to communicate the online presence information to the potential receiver comprises determining to not communicate the online presence information to the potential receiver when the potential receiver is not included in the list. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1  wherein determining whether to communicate the online presence information to the potential receiver comprises determining whether to communicate the online presence information to an instant messaging application of the potential receiver. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1  wherein determining whether to communicate the online presence information to the potential receiver comprises determining whether to display the online presence information on a web page. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1  wherein determining whether to communicate the online presence information to the potential receiver comprises determining whether to display the online presence information in member search results. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1  wherein determining whether to communicate the online presence information to the potential receiver comprises determining whether to display the online presence information in a member profile. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1  wherein determining whether to communicate the online presence information to the potential receiver comprises determining whether to communicate the online presence information to the potential receiver when a request for online presence information is received from the potential receiver. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1  wherein determining whether to communicate the online presence information to the potential receiver comprises determining whether to communicate the online presence information to the potential receiver absent a request from the potential receiver for the online presence information. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising:
 inferring that a person is known to the user based on positive user actions related to e-mail communications from the person; 
 adding the inferred person to the list. 
 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9  wherein the positive actions include sending an e-mail to the person. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 9  wherein the positive actions include replying to, forwarding, saving, or printing an e-mail received from the person. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 9  wherein the positive actions include moving an e-mail from a first folder to a second folder. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12  wherein the first folder is an inbox folder and the second folder is a folder other than a delete folder or a spam folder. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 9  wherein the positive action includes leaving an e-mail from the person open for a predetermined period of time. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising:
 inferring that a person is known to the user based, at least in part, on detecting a communication between the user and the person; 
 adding the inferred person to the list. 
 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15  wherein the communication is an instant messaging communication. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising inferring that a person is known to the user, wherein inferring comprises:
 accessing a contact list of the user to determine a first contact on the user's contact list; and 
 accessing a contact list of the first contact to determine a second contact on the first contact's contact list. 
 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising inferring that a person is known to the user based, at least in part, on detecting user actions that mitigate against factors that otherwise are used to infer a person is known to the user. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18  wherein the user actions comprise the user taking steps to report a communication from the person as spam. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 18  wherein the user actions comprise the user taking steps to add a person to a blacklist.